In compression/decompression (codec) systems, compression efficiency, video quality, and error resilience are important performance criteria. For example, visual quality and error resilience are important aspects of the user experience in many video applications and compression efficiency impacts the amount of memory storage needed to store video files and/or the amount of bandwidth needed to transmit and/or stream video content. For example, a video encoder compresses video information so that more information can be sent over a given bandwidth or stored in a given memory space or the like. The compressed signal or data may then be decoded via a decoder that decodes or decompresses the signal or data for display to a user. In most implementations, higher visual quality with greater compression is desirable.
Furthermore, long term reference pictures or frames are an important feature of video coding systems. For example, long term reference pictures may be used in the H.264/MPEG-4 advanced video coding (AVC) standard and the high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard. Similar features, provided by so called golden frames may be included in the VP8 standard and the VP9 standard. Such long term reference pictures may be used for coding other pictures and they may provide resiliency in situations where data transfer losses may occur such as over network distributions or the like. Long term reference pictures may be stored at the decoder and used for picture prediction, recovery or the like until they are replaced by a subsequent long term reference picture.
The selection and management of long term reference pictures may provide subjective and objective improvements during encode and error resilience in the decoding process. Therefore, it may be advantageous to select and manage long term reference pictures to provide improved video coding. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements have been needed. Such improvements may become critical as the desire to compress and transmit video data becomes more widespread.